Woodward's way a winner

It was the moment that made Ben Kay a future star of Pizza commercials and almost caused Sir Clive Woodward to break his knuckles on the seat in front - the lock's fateful mishandling of the perfect pass on the try-line during the first half of the Rugby World Cup final.

It was being replayed on a giant video wall as Woodward was leaving the offices of Sport England yesterday, having just collected two more in a litany of prestigious awards: the Sport England coach of the year, and the AIPS team of the year trophy.

"Oh no, no, don't show that!" England's head coach exclaimed, reliving the agonising incident when it seemed easier to score than to miss until the ball somehow escaped Kay's grasp. It was tempting to say: "There, there Clive, it's all over now. You won remember?" It was also tempting to consider how crucial luck is in sporting endeavour. England could have crumpled in a heap had that been the game's defining moment.

The fact that it wasn't was largely down to Woodward. You see, luck doesn't play much of a part in his scheme of things. The law unto Woodward is this: fail to prepare and you prepare to fail. It is not a new mantra. But he is the man who has taken it to the nth degree. Such was the confidence the England players gleaned from the extensive planning of their World Cup campaign, Kay's miss barely caused a flicker of emotion on the field, even if Woodward was doing his nut in the stand.

They knew that they had left nothing to chance, that the physical and mental superiority drawn from months of intense training and more coaches than National Express would begin to tell, and another opportunity would come along in a minute. Their performance was the ultimate expression of Gary Player's oft-quoted line "the more I practise the luckier I seem to get".

"Preparation" was the word Woodward regularly mouthed when explaining yesterday what prerequisites a coach needs to be the best.

"When we arrived in Australia we were happy and relaxed with the status as tournament favourites because we knew we'd prepared properly," he said. "We hadn't left anything to chance."

"It was a huge partnership effort, from the Zurich Premiership and the clubs through the management, players and coaches. We were the best prepared team probably ever. Things could still have gone against us. There would have been no excuses. Sport is sport. But we knew, because of our preparation, we were the No 1 team in the world."

The fact that after the Six Nations England are now only the third best team in Europe is a spur to a man who has apparently inexhaustible ambition.

"I could have stood down after the World Cup, got on to the motivational-speaking circuit, but that's not for me. I want to move this team on now to new and even better challenges. As other countries chase us we've got to move forward. I want to see if we can win a tournament and play well at the same time."

Woodward's legacy is that excellent sportsmen can find fulfilment in coaching if they treat the art seriously. So far he has failed to deter the likes of Jason Leonard and Martin Johnson from heading instead into the media. If Woodward's achievements could reform this depressing aspect of our sporting culture, it would arguably be an even greater triumph.